Highlights over the last few days have included the long-staying red-breasted merganser on Harbour Farm, great white egret and regular marsh harrier at Castle Water and at least two different peregrine over the Beach Reserve (immature) and at Castle Water (adult). Still lots of golden plover and lapwing to see, with maxima of 1500 and around 600 respectively, while other waders included up to 150 knot, 80 dunlin and small numbers of grey plover, bar-tailed godwit and black-tailed godwit. Numbers of shoveler and gadwall have jumped up with the incoming cold front, with over 150 of the former around the reserve and 150 of the latter at Castle Water alone. There have also been some large (for here) counts of Egyptian goose, with 25 on Castle Farm on the 1st, up to three goldeneye on Harbour Farm and numerous pintail on Flat Beach.

Yesterday, there was little happening at sea, so I went over to EGL to check out the Lapland Bunting situation-I've heard distant birds calling a couple of times recently. Yesterday was much better, almost immediately I got to the big stubble fields I heard multiple Lapland Bunting calls, they obligingly flew up and I could see them for a change-three together.

Just one Corn Bunting though.

The Great White Egret was on Moneypenny Dimsel again, 136 Mute Swans was a record count for me

I was ready for another good auk movement past the Clifftop first thing yesterday, but this didn't happen. However there was evidently a concentration of fish close in below the house, which attracted a notable 33 Razorbills, 15 Guillemots, 10 Gannets and 10 Kittiwakes. 42 Red -throated Divers and an adult Mediterranean Gull headed west.

Later in the morning we carried out one of my occasional Turnstone Counts, walking through increasing rain from Rock-a-Nore to the De la Warr Pavilion in Bexhill. Good to see so many people doing a beach clean along Hastings seafront, and to count 145 Turnstones- a welcome return to form after some very low counts, and the highest since Oct 2015, when 182.

Seawatching over the last few days produced all the usual suspects, of greatest note being over 400 auks E by 0840 yesterday; 15 Kittiwakes were hanging around.

My 2018 moth list is stuck on one- a Twenty Plume that fluttered into the bedroom from elsewhere in the house and expired on the window ledge. I've put the trap out on a couple of milder nights, but to no avail.